Printing press cylinder support



Nov. 22, 1932. J. E. LEE 7 1,888,463

PRINTING PRESS CYLINDER SUPPORT Filed-0st. 15. 1950 7 918 I s o o 5 GML,

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' Qftume gg Patented Nov. 22, 1932 UNITED STATES JAMES EDGAR LEE, GRAND HAVEN, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T0 CHALLENGE 1\IA ff GHINERY COMPANY, OF GRAND HAVEN, MICHIGAN, A CORPQEATZGN OF MICHIGAN PRINTING PRESS CYLINDER SUPPORT Application filed October 13, 1930. Serial No. 488,22/8.

This invention relates to printing press cylinder supports and its object is to provide means for accurately maintaining the cylinder of a printing ress at the level to which it is adjustedregar less of whether the cylinder is in engagement with paper over the type or is out of engagement therewith and supported entirely upon its bearings.

This invention is particularly applicable to so-called proof presses although it may be utilized in other forms of printing presses and in machines of this kind the type is laid upon a bed with the face upward and a cylinder traverses a sheet of paper laid over the type, said cylinder exerting a pressure upon the paper to make the necessary printing engagement of the paper with the type. The cylinder is rotatably mounted on a movable carriage or support which traverses the bed on which the type is mounted and is adjustable vertically so that the proper pressure may be exerted upon the paper over the type and the adjustment of the cylinder must be very accurate and is measured in thouasandths of an inch.

Because of the very accurate adjustment and positioning of the cylinder which is necessary for nice work a slight looseness in the bearings of the cylinder caused by imperfect fitting or bywear or a looseness in the bearings of the cylinder carriage will permit the cylinder to drop in the bearings when it is out of engagement with the paper over the typ because of its unsupported weight and itwill rise in its bearings when it engages the paper over the type thus causing an objectionable smearing of the ink on the paper at the edge of the'type where the cylinder engages it in its movement.

'This invention provides means for eliminating the objectionable features caused by looseness of the bearings of the cylinder support whereby all of the bearing members are constantly maintained in the position they will assume when the cylinder is thrust upwardly by engagement with paper over the type or in other words, means are provided for constantly holding the cylinder in its uppermost position whether it is in engagement with the paper over the type or not.

The invention embodies various novel features of construction and arrangement as hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is an end view of the upper portion of a proof press embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary View partially in section, showing the essentials of the structure at one side of the press.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line %4 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrow, and

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the opera tion of the cylinder in engaging the paper over the type. V

Like reference numbers refer to like parts in all the figures.

1 represents a table or frame of the proof press on which is supported the bed 2. The bed has a horizontal upper surface on which the type 3, usually surrounded by a chase i, is laid with the face of the type upward. The respective longitudinal edges of the bed 2 are provided with guides or track portions 5 upon which the end members of the cylinder supporting carriage are transversably mounted.

The carriage comprises an end member 6 at each side of the bed and each end member 6 has a slot or opening 7 with vertical guides at its respective vertical edges in which a vertically movable bearing block 8 is mounted and guided. Rods 6a extend between the r s spective end membersG to hold them in spaced relation. A cap 9 extends over and closes the upper side of the opening 7. The cylinder 10 is provided with a shaft 11 which projects from its respective ends and each end of the shaft 11 extends through and is jour naled in one of the respective bearing blocks 8. A hand crank 12 may be attached to one end of the shaft 11 for-manually rotating the shaft and cylinder. here 6 extends downwardly below the track portion 5 of the bed and is provided with two spaced apart rollers 13 which extend under anad traversably engage the lower surface of said track portion 5.

A supporting bar 14 is located at each end Each of the end mem- V of the cylinder 10, preferably between the end of the cylinder and corresponding bearing block 8 and is provided with a bearing through which the shaft 11 extends and each end of each supporting bar is provided with a supporting roller 15. The rollers 15 engage the upper surface of the track portion 5 of the bed and are mounted in trucks 16, which truck have vertical slidable connection with the respective ends of the supporting bars 14 and-"springs 17 are interposed to yieldably support the supporting bars upon the roller mounted trucks 16. An adjusting screw 18 is threaded through each cap 9 and engages the upper side of the respective bearing block 8 whereby the height of the cylinder may be adjusted.

By thisconstruction it will be seen that the cylinder 10 is actually supported by the supporting bars 14 which are thrust upwardly by the springs 17 bearing on the roller mounted-trucks 16. The end members 6. hav ing the rollers 13 engaging the underside of the track portion 5, which prevent upward movement of the said end member 6, actually serve only to hold the cylinder down and do not support the weight of the cylinder. The adjusting screws 1.8 in the caps 9, which caps are rigidly connected to the and members 6, bear downwardly upon the respective hearing blocks 8 and positively prevent upward movement of the cylinder which is journaled in said bearing blocks.

By this construction the cylinder is positively held supported at the height to which it is adjusted by the adjusting screws 18. The combined strength of the springs 17 is adequate to lift and support the weight of the whole structure so that the same surfaces of the respective bearings are always in engagement whether the cylinder out of engagement with the paper over the type or is in engagement therewith. To be more explieit the bearing of the supporting bar 14 thrusts upwardly against the "lower portion of the shaft 11 and holds the upper portion of the shaft 11 against the upper side of its bearings in the bearing blocks 8. The hearing blocks 8 are thrust upwardly into engagement with the adjusting screws 18 and the end members 6 are raised so that the rollers 13 engage the under surfaces of the track portions 5 and the bearings of the rollers 15 themselves are raised upwardly into firm contact.

The enlarged diagram. Fig. 5. shows the lower portion of the cylinder 10 in position to engage and roll over the paper laid over the type 3. This figure illustrates quite clearly that the lower side of the cylinder must be held accurately at the proper level in which to engage the paper which is accomplished by the aforedescribed invention. If the cylinder were carried only in the customary bearings in which even a small amount of looseness was present the cylinder would only be elevated in its bearings when in engagement with the paper over the type and when out of engagement therewith its weight would drop it in its hearings to a slightly lower level. Therefore, the cylinder would be lower than the face of the type when out of engagement therewith and would have to ride over the edge of the type when it engaged the paper thereon to raise it to its proper level and such riding on the paper over the edge. or corner of the type was obviously objectionable and detrimental to nice work.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a horizontal bed having a track portion, a cylinder extending over and spaced above said bed, yieldable means traversably engaging the upper surface of said track portion and rotatably supporting said cylinder to thrust it upwardly, and means traversably engaging the lower surface of said track portion and associated with said cylinder to limit its upward movement.

2. In. a device of the class described, a horizontal bed having a horizontal track portion, a cylinder extending over and spaced above said bed, a shaft on said cylinder, a supporting member rota-tably engaging said shaft, means traversably engagin the upper surface of the track member, yiel able means interposed between said traversing means and said supporting member, a bearing block mounted on said cylinder shaft and means traversably engaging the lower surface of said track portion, said last means being connected with said bearing block to positively limit its upward movement.

3. In a device of the class described, a horizontal bed having a horizontal track portion, a cylinder extending over and spaced above said bed, a shaft extending from said cylinder, a supporting member having a bearing for said shaft, a supporting roller traversably mounted on the upper surface of said track portion, spring means interposed between said supporting roller and said supporting member for thrusting said cylinder upwardly, an end plate, a bearing block slidably mounted in said end plate, said bearing lock rotatably receiving said cylinder shaft, means for adjusting the vertical position of said bearing block relative to said end plate, and a roller journaled on said end plate and traversably engaging the underside of said track portion.

4. A device of the class described comprising, a horizontal bed having ahorizontal track portion, a cylinder extending over and spaced above said bed, a shaft on said cylinder, a supporting bar rotatably mounted on said shaft and extending at opposite sides therefrom, a supporting roller at each side of said shaft traversably engaging the upper surface of the track portion, spring means connecting each supporting roller with said supporting bar, said spring means acting to thrust said bar, shaft and cylinder upwardly, an end member, a bearing block mounted on said shaft and vertically slidable on said end member, means for adjusting the vertical position of said bearing block relative to said end member and a pair of horizontally spaced rollers rotatably mounted on said end member and traversably engaging the lower surface of said track portion.

5. In a device of the class described, a bed, a cylinder, means for rotatably and traversably mounting the cylinder relative to the bed and means associated with said mounting means for thrusting all bearings of the cylinder mounting in an upward direction, said thrusting pressure being independent of the relative positions of the bed and cylinder.

6. In a device of the class described, a bed, a cylinder, a shaft therefor, means for rotatably and traversably mounting said cylinder, yieldable means directly associated with said shaft for thrusting saidcylinder in an upward direction and means associated with said mounting means for positively limiting the upward movement of said cylinder.

7 In a device of the class described, a horizontal bed, a cylinder extending over and spaced slightly above said bed, means for causing relative movement of the cylinder in a plane parallel to the said bed, extendable means operative between the cylinder and the said bed to maintain the cylinder in a maximum spaced relationship to the bed and additional means between the cylinder and the bed preventing separation therebetween be yond a predetermined point, said extendable means and additional means engaging the said bed in the same vertical plane for the purpose described.

In testimony WhereofI afiix my signature.

JAMES EDGAR LEE. 

